Like football, brand marketing is fundamentally about goals - and podcasts can be an excellent way of achieving those goals. One brand that has realised the potential of this approach is sports media company Footballco. In addition to brands such as Goal and Mundial, it also operates the Footballco Business Podcast, which it uses to forge relationships with key industry partners.
In this week’s episode of PodPod, Rhianna Dhillon and Reem Makari speak to Paul Rayment, PR manager for Footballco and the brains behind the Footballco Business Podcast, about how the organisation uses the podcast to build its brand within the industry, and the role of podcasts as a marketing and sales tool.
Key takeaways
Assume nothing
“[Forest Green Rovers] are, compared to the rest of the football ecosystem, a very, very small club, but have a very kind of unique identity”, Rayment said; “they're an ecological club… the menu for all of Forest Green Rovers is vegan, there’s sustainability at the heart of what they do… it’s very much their brand. And I mentioned that to a colleague of mine last year, it's been told a million times - everyone knows about this, surely.”
“I was at a trade event panel conversation a few months ago. And there was somebody on the panel - this was a room full of some of the most important people working in football - and they brought up the Forest Green Rovers example, they're like, Oh, you all know about Forest Green Rovers, don't you? And it was like, shakes of heads. And that made me realise, yeah, maybe we do live in our little bubble.”
Embrace the art of conversation
“There's no secret that it helps as a way for us to have relationships, a way for us to sit down with somebody for maybe 45 minutes, an hour, and have a conversation. Sometimes it's hard to have those conversations, if you're in a commercial environment which is very formal.”
“Let's just talk about football. Tell us about the work that you're doing. We have a lot of people working in our commercial teams, and our strategy teams, et cetera, to kind of keep everything going. And this plays a small part, but it plays a part which I think more people recognise.”
Challenge your own perceptions
“I think the goal which I'm quite confident we have got to a point of hitting is the calibre of who we're looking to get on. And by calibre, I don't just mean that you are incredibly senior.”
“I remember at the beginning, I made the mistake of saying I don't anybody who wears a tie - because I very much wanted to focus on the creative side, which has certain kinds of stereotypes attached to it. And I blew it out the water because I had [Darren Eames] on: wore a tie. One of the best guests, but also a very smart guy, so like, that didn't make sense.”
Footnotes
Tom Denford: Why B2B podcasts are a key marketing tool
7 things brands need to know before launching a podcast
Elis James: The funny thing about podcasts
Adidas launches branded podcast with professional footballer Alessia Russo
Branded podcasts aren’t a revenue stream, they’re a marketing tool, says ID Comms CEO
Audio will be an increasing priority for brand media budgets in 2023
Podcasts are more than an advertising opportunity - they’re brands in themselves
Measuring ROI for podcast advertising campaigns
Getting heard: How to boost your podcast with PR and marketing
Is your podcast marketing ignoring email?
